Sub speaker selection help.

I am finally making head way on my install. All the components are being put into case. Now with the calculations i have done, there is not enough room for a 12 inch sub. So researching, they have 8 inch square speakers, which will fit perfect.

What I want to know is does the speaker have to face a certain way? I am trying to go for a 7.1 surround sound setup and want movies to sound amazing. With music, I just want it to sound well balanced, meaning I want to hear everything clearly, not just boom boom boom.

I notice on most installs the speaker is facing towards the left or the right. Would it affect sound to have it point up? The way my setup is, up is the only option. Also, with a sub box, is there any other area that has to be open, like to let air in and out?

I am finally making head way on my install. All the components are being put into case. Now with the calculations i have done, there is not enough room for a 12 inch sub. So researching, they have 8 inch square speakers, which will fit perfect.

What I want to know is does the speaker have to face a certain way?

I am trying to go for a 7.1 surround sound setup and want movies to sound amazing. With music, I just want it to sound well balanced, meaning I want to hear everything clearly, not just boom boom boom.

I notice on most installs the speaker is facing to wards the left or the right. Would it affect sound to have it point up? The way my setup is, up is the only option. Also, with a sub box, is there any other area that has to be open, like to let air in and out?

Any help would be appreciated.

Speaker direction is referred to as the speaker being on axis or off axis and every speaker is different. Some sound great "off axis" (not pointed at the listener" such as a door installation; others almost have to be on axis to sound great.

Most SQ installs have the front stage (usually the L & R front speakers) pointed towards the center dome light or a headrest (biased towards one front listener or the other). Most accomplish this by using the Q Logic kick panel install shells which move the door speaker down into the foot well and points them up and in. If you are going to this extreme, you will likely be running components which have a separate tweeter. Some like the sound of the these mounted down with the main driver, some like them mounted high in the sail panels. It varies by speaker, vehicle and listener preference. The best way to experiment with speaker location is to use a bath town bunched up in a ball and bury the back of the speaker in it on the front floor so you can move them around the angle the placement while listening. Use Velcro on the tweets to try different locations. BTW,if you go with the Q Logic lick panels, they will need some reinforcement, they are fairly light and the plastic doesn't sound great until you reinforce it a bit.

Any multi channel setup in a vehicle is more for the experience of installing it and trying it out but honestly, a good processor with a phantom center channel will give you close to the same experience and maybe better. It depends if you are able to find a good location for the center channel speaker or have to settle for a dash top mount shooting at the windshield. Also, if the center channel speaker does not have similar characteristics to the others, it will sound off. There are a lot of variables.

The sub box can be sealed or ported. Sealed does not require an open port for "the sound to come out". Sealed is the easiest to build, and can be smaller than ported. Most average subs will need anywhere from .8-1.5 cubic feet of air space to work properly in a sealed box.

Last edited by PhilG; 10-01-2011 at 03:35 PM.
Reason: fixed grammer AFTER my coffee, wow, it was bad!

i had a chance years ago to demo a bunch of different manufacturers square subs, and i can say that i think that they all sounded poor, but kicker was the only one to pull it off the best.

if you look at the design of kicker L-series subs, you'll see that they have extra material at each corner of the subs. they really do need that extra material for the sub to work correctly. most of the cheap knock-off's(i think lanzar makes one) don't have that extra material and the sound quality is very affected by it.

but for clear bass, i think you are going the wrong direction--the kicker L-series subs, or any square sub for that matter are really more about raw output then finesse(my cvrs have a much cleaner sound then all of the L-series subs i have heard).

My install has an actual center speaker. It will be located in the new center console I am making. I was going to put it in the dash top, but that created to many issues. As far as the 6 speakers in the doors and third row panels, all will be Coaxial, I just didnt want to worry about mounting the tweeters.

So what you guys are saying is that I should go with round sub? That can work also. I just thought the square looked cooler, lol. Do they make one that can handle 400 watt RMS and do you think 400 watt RMS is enough for good bass, but not over kill bass.

i've got a 8" one in my home theater-- in short, they stink(i got it for free and used a old pc-psu to power it--essentially a free 50w sub). if you can get them for less then $25-50, then they aren't a horrible deal, but you will still need to remind yourself of the purchase price while watching movies.. any explosions at any volume high enough to clearly hear the actors vocals will make it sound flatulent...

music isn't bad, but my old kicker comp 10"ers in a too-small box had better bass..

i've got a 8" one in my home theater-- in short, they stink(i got it for free and used a old pc-psu to power it--essentially a free 50w sub). if you can get them for less then $25-50, then they aren't a horrible deal, but you will still need to remind yourself of the purchase price while watching movies.. any explosions at any volume high enough to clearly hear the actors vocals will make it sound flatulent...

music isn't bad, but my old kicker comp 10"ers in a too-small box had better bass..

what about a shallow-mount sub in a low profile box?

Im going to take a picture of the unit installed and where everything is going. That way you can tell me what I should be going for. Basically I want the smallest sub I can go with, but at the same time I want it to be strong enough to not get drowned out.